WR 301 Critical Writing in English - Lincoln: Encyclopedias & Reference Works
Why Reference Works?
Scholarly reference works are useful for the following:
- An overview of a topic
- Topic ideas for a paper topic or narrowing your topic
- Finding keywords for searches
- Bibliographies for further research
Reference works are good starting points for research, but are rarely cited in research as secondary sources.
Print Resources: Genre, Movements & Historical Context
The Cambridge Companion to Postcolonial Literary Studies by Call Number: PN56.C63 C36 2004ISBN: 0521826942Publication Date: 2004
The Cambridge history of literary criticism by Call Number: Library Shelves -- 4th floor (PN86 .C27 1989 )ISBN: 0521300061Publication Date: 1990-01-26
A Handbook to Literature by Call Number: PSU Library Reference Collection -- 2nd floor (PN41 .H355 2012 )ISBN: 0205024017Publication Date: 2010-12-31
African Literature and Its Times by Call Number: PL8010 .M65 2000ISBN: 0787637270Publication Date: 2000-06-16
Essential Online Reference Sources
- African WritersWhile somewhat dated now, still a great source:
Profiles literary works, including novels, short stories, biographies, speeches, poems, and plays, providing background on the time and place in which each work is set and in which it was produced. Also includes an extensive chronology of relevant events.
- Literature Online - LIONIncludes reference works, biographical sketches, bibliographies, and secondary criticism of British and American literary works. Offers full text of some novels, poems, dramas, and prose.
- Literature Resource CenterProvides reference, literary timelines, and articles on authors, journalists, and critics from all literary periods. Covers literary genres such as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism.
- Oxford Bibliographies OnlineThese bibliographies can help answer the question, what are the best books to read?
Includes scholarly bibliographies that provide research guidance in several topical areas. Our current subscriptions cover the classics, Jewish studies, Islamic studies, medieval studies, the Renaissance and the Reformation, British and Irish literature, childhood studies, Chinese studies, cinema and media studies, American literature, education, communication, linguistics, philosophy, public health, and international relations. - Literature Criticism OnlineConsists of summaries of works, Western literary criticism, and literary movements as well as biographical sketches of authors from the classical period to the present.
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of British LiteratureProvides comprehensive coverage of literature from the Abbey Theatre to Israel Zangwill, covering the entire history of literature in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland in the major literary languages (Anglo-Saxon, English, Welsh, Scots, Irish, and Latin). It includes substantial accounts of individual authors (e.g., Spenser, Pope, Austen) and detailed histories of particular themes, movements, genres, and institutions.
- The Oxford encyclopedia of American literatureSurveys the vibrant terrain of American literature in 350 essays from leading scholars, encompassing the range and depth of American literary history from the 1600s to the present day. The Encyclopedia includes essays on poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists, as well as major works and essays on literary movements, periods, and themes.
- The John Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & CriticismOffers full text articles on critics, and literary theorists as well as critical and theoretical schools and movements.
- Oxford English DictionaryCovers the history of the English language. Contains word definitions, pronunciation, history, and language of origin. The OED is a comprehensive record of the English language and generally regarded as its definitive dictionary.